Welcome my friend, to the castle "Ivory Twilight". Come in, sit and have a drink. Allow me to tell you a tale…

Long, long ago. Eons it seems. In the land of Nordal there lived the good king Oleric. The king’s son, Prince Therdol was brave and true. It was Prince Keroth however, cruel and evil, who was the elder and next in line for the throne.

Prince Keroth had recently returned to the land. The kingdom had believed him dead from a childhood accident, but this was not the case.

One night, the kings wizard, Alorin came before the court with grave news. King Oleric had died. Although Alorin knew that treachery was what had taken the King from his people he was, as of yet, unable to prove it.

Fearing for his own life, Prince Therdol fled the castle with a small group of loyal guards.

Keroth, tyrant that he was, drove the kingdom and its people into destitute poverty as the seasons passed. He and his soldiers lived in the lap of luxury while the peasants starved.

During the Dark Years as they came to be called, Prince Therdol and his men journeyed to the surrounding fifes, recruiting any who would join in their rebellion.

For seven long years the rule of King Keroth went unopposed. But then, on a chilled spring morning, the small rebel force of the long lost Prince Therdol attacked the castle. The king’s soldiers defended the castle well but the lines were eventually broken and the castle was breached.

As the wall was taken, Prince Therdol left his forces in the charge of his second and went on a secret mission. The details of which, only he knew.

A short time later, King Keroth joined his men in battle. The King was not supposed to engage in combat however he wouldn’t allow his mighty keep to fall to a group of ratty farmers with pitch forks.

The King and his soldiers fought hard but were in danger of losing to those ratty farmers. King Keroth fled into the bowels of the castle, leaving his men to their fates.

Deep in the caverns beneath the great castle, King Keroth began filling saddle bags with gold and jewels. He had a long journey ahead of him and needed to make sure his every whim could be attended to. That’s when he heard the steps behind him.

The king turned and drew his sword. Standing there was the one man who could stop him. The one man who new his secrets. The wizard Alorin.

Alorin stood tall and held his staff high proclaiming “Your evil shall not be allowed to continue, King Therdol!”

The King looked at Alorin, confused. He removed his helmet and looked at his reflection in the shield next to him. Alorin was right. He was Therdol. But how could that be? A flash from the wizard’s staff filled the chamber and all was reveled to the King.

When Therdol was only three, he and his older brother Keroth had been playing by the great river. Keroth, though two years older, could not swim. As a joke, Therdol pushed his older brother when his back was turned into the river. Therdol thought it great fun, watching his brother splash about, trying to keep his head above the water. Then… there was no more splashing, no more pleas for help.

In the years that followed, Therdol could never forgive himself for what happened to his brother. He hated Keroth for leaving him. Keroth must have been a horrible person to leave his little brother and never return. The young Prince Therdol slowly slipped into dementia. His carefully crafted fantasy world even allowed him to convince the courts that Prince Keroth had returned and being the older brother, was rightful heir to the throne of Nordal.

For years the wizard had watched the young prince slip into madness. He had watched from the shadows as “Evil Prince Keroth” Poisoned his beloved father, King Oleric. But he could do nothing. Not until he found a way to reverse the evil that had overtaken Therdol. Twenty five years it had taken Alorin to create the spell that would cure Therdol of his malady. And with a wave of his staff and the words spoken in ancient tongue, the good, faithful wizard did just that.

Now cured, King Therdol took his rightful place on the throne of Nordal. A great statue was erected in honor of his brother and peace returned to the land once more.

Forth Wall Commentary: Well, to be completely honest, this is not the build I wanted to do with this story. Originally, I had planned to do about 10 dios at minifig scale and tell the story that way. I even had about half of them built and a lot of pics taken. That was about 8 months ago. Recently, I've been talking with Kelso (Don't worry, I'll go to confession on Sunday) about castle and how both he and I wanted to take a stab at it. I finished my last episode of Moc Wars and wanted to do something small and different so I didn't burn out. So I said, "Hey, I'll do a micro-scale castle." So here it is, cobbled together during late night Mythbusters and UFO Hunters watchathons, my micro-castle, Ivory Twilight. This was also a place for me to try out a technique (that needs some work but it was a good first try) of making a stary night background. Obviously it needs some work. It does actually look pretty good in person, but doesn't translate very well to pics. Eh, what the heck, I'll do it better next time. So anyway, for those of you that were wondering what "A Brother's Tale" (spelled that way on purpose for you English majors out there) was, here it is. Hope you enjoyed it.

Alright then, now it's time to get back to work on Moc Wars. Let's see what I've got up my sleave...

I chose this MOC because of the WHITE PURITY and it reminded me of HEAVEN! I know that is where HEATHER IS! I was so saddened to hear the news! My Easter time communion will be offered up for her!!!and her family and friends! Can we keep her site up and Label it: In Memorium of Heather a.k.a. LEGO GIRL gone but never forgotten!
Try to remember the message of both Easter and Passover the Israelites went on to the Promised Land and the resurrection spirit we all possess! You were so lucky to know her!

that is one beautiful castle. i love the archs and the water fall, and all the great details. the story is really odd, but i enjoyed the twist at the end. really cool moc! also, i made a moc and i included your sigfig in it, so it seemed the only respectful thing to do was tell you about it (because your sigfig dies by impalement), so here is the link: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/213869
take a look at it if you want to, but as long as you know about it and don't mind me using your fig (and killing your sigfig), i really don't mind terribly much if you don't comment on it, or don't even look at it, but yeah, i really like the architecture in this moc!

Forgot to post on this til now, I think. A triumph my friend. I agree with ShannonY about how this would be cool minifig scale, but the writing perfectly matches the tone your microscale pics establish too. Your story contains court intrique and emotional pathos with a tortured soul at its center. This is great work and demonstrates what you're really capable of doing with an idea. (Ok, ok -- I honestly keep waiting for a flight of X- and Y-wings to coming in and shoot the place up. What this MOC needs are explosions!) Now I'm going to have try my hand at microscale -- nah, too much like actual work.

The castle, IMO, is one of your finest build. It's simply beautiful, and it's original because micro-scale castles are really uncommon. The story is a bit disturbing and awesome at the same time. GREAT !!!

I remember you mentioned this story during the summer; I'm glad I finally read it (I love the surprising twist at the climax). Although I believe the tale deserves several dioramas, it's fun just seeing the interesting aspects of the castle. Plus, since it's microscale, readers can imagine what the characters look like rather than actually seeing them. Great work!

Quoting Shannon Young
I really would have liked to see this in minifig scale. It's much easier to identify with the characters if they have little minifig faces to relate to. But hey, I know all about scaling back on grand visions. You get this great idea for an amazing MOC and then you realize -- wait, I don't have the pieces/patience/time/skill to do it the way I want...

Once I get my home PC up and running again I'll E-mail ya a few of the WIP pics that I did for the original month's ago. Those were done in minifig scale.

I really would have liked to see this in minifig scale. It's much easier to identify with the characters if they have little minifig faces to relate to. But hey, I know all about scaling back on grand visions. You get this great idea for an amazing MOC and then you realize -- wait, I don't have the pieces/patience/time/skill to do it the way I want...

Looking at this, reading Alex's comment, looking at Young's tower...Is castle coming back to MOCpages? I sure hope so. Great story and build, Chris! I'm all out of smack talk right now and I'm really tired, so I'll just say I hope to see more castle from you at leave it at that. =)

Ah-ha! Is this the story I chickened out of building for a while ago? Excellent mate, I love the starry sky effect. Maybe I should try a micro-castle-can't see myself having enough bricks to do a minifig scale one anytime soon. Inspiring stuff.

Nice castle, though I doubt that ramp is OSHA approved. Imagine some poor old farmer hauling his vegetable cart up that incline. The royal family should try marrying some people who aren't their relations. When your babydaddy is your brother you know you've got some potential trouble. see ya. garth

Awesome story Chris! The star technique is interesting. It seams like it could use a bit of refining, but I am sure it does really look better in person. Great to see something new from you! Oh, and I like your windmill. Great technique!